Tandem - Page 12

Nano-textured surfaces are an interesting approach for optimizing the optical characteristics for monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. Scientists from Germany’s Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have examined the development of different textures of silicon surfaces using various commercial additives and their performance in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) and SHJ–perovskite tandem solar cells.

The team performed optical and electrical characterization and found that nano-textured surfaces can compete with standard textured surfaces, yielding higher average efficiencies in single junctions. In addition, their compatibility with solution-processed perovskite top cells was demonstrated in the recent study, yielding a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell efficiency of >28% on a bottom cell with nano-texture on both sides.

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and TNO at Holst Centre have developed a sensor that converts light into an electrical signal at an astonishing 200% efficiency – a seemingly impossible figure that was achieved through the exceptional nature of quantum physics.

SA schematic of the photodiode architecture

The team of scientists sees its invention potentially used in technology that monitors a person's vital signs (including heartbeat or respiration rate) from afar, without the need for anything to be inserted or even attached to the body.

Scientists from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have reported the results of a one-year outdoor test for a tandem perovskite-silicon solar cell they developed in 2020. They have found that the device retained more than 80% of its initial efficiency during the testing period between April 2021 and April 2022.

The team's results are actual outdoor measurement over months and months, rather than testing done in a lab-controlled environment. The team is still conducting tests, aiming to focus on stability and reach  at least a two-decade operation goal.

Researchers from Australia's Monash University, The Australian National University (ANU), Flinders University, The University of Sydney and Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have achieved a 30.3% efficiency with a perovskite and silicon tandem solar cell.

The team developed the highly efficient tandem cell, while also enhancing its operational stability. Their work builds on a previous record set by ANU researchers in 2020, and was funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Chinese perovskite solar technology company Renshine Solar (Suzhou) has announced 29.0% steady-state power conversion efficiency of all-perovskite tandem solar cell developed in-house. The company now expects to exceed 30% in 2023.

Japan Electrical Safety and Environment Technology Laboratories (JET) has reportedly certified the efficiency claim that was reported for a designated area of 0.04888 cm².

University of Sydney's Professor Anita Ho-Baillie is joining forces with Sydney-based renewable technology company SunDrive to commercialize perovskite-silicon cells, with backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) of AUD$2.78 million (over USD$1.9 million).

Other investigators on the project include Professor David McKenzie, Dr Jianghui Zheng and Dr Arafat Mahmud, who are based at the University of Sydney, and Mr Vince Allen, Mr David Hu and Professor Alison Lennon from SunDrive.

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and University of Toledo have developed a new approach to manufacturing perovskite solar cells.

Developing highly stable and efficient perovskites based on a rich mixture of bromine and iodine is considered critical for the creation of tandem solar cells. However, issues with the two elements separating under solar cell operational conditions, such as light and heat, limit the device voltage and operational stability. This challenge is often made worse by the ready defect formation associated with the rapid crystallization of bromine-rich perovskite chemistry with antisolvent processes.

Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) recently announced a new tandem solar cell that converts 32.5% of the incident solar radiation into electrical energy.

The certifying institute European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) in Italy measured the tandem cell and officially confirmed this value which is also included in the NREL chart of solar cell technologies, maintained by the National Renewable Energy Lab, USA.

Researchers from EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), University of Cantabria and National Tsing Hua University have created a bifacial perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell and developed a new low-temperature production process resulting in record efficiencies of 19.8% for front and 10.9% for rear illumination.

The idea is collecting direct sunlight, as well as its reflection via the rear end of the solar cell, which should increase the yield of energy the cell produces. Potential applications are, for instance, building-integrated photovoltaics, agrivoltaics – the simultaneous use of areas of land for both photovoltaic power generation and agriculture – and vertically or high-tilt installed solar modules on high-altitude grounds.

Meyer Burger Technology has signed multi-year cooperation agreements with CSEM from Switzerland, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, and the Institute of Photovoltaics at the University of Stuttgart, for the development of high-performance perovskite tandem solar cells and modules.

These activities are focused on the industrialization of the new technologies, moving from the laboratory to mass production with a view to the future expansion of gigawatt capacities at Meyer Burger’s production sites. The aim of the cooperation is the industrial production of solar cells with efficiencies of more than 30 percent.